LISTENING POST’S FOUNDER’S DAY LISTEN-A-THON

Back in 2007, Mary Cartwright and Marcia Wakeland, both from Alaska, met for the first time at a conference in Vancouver, BC. An aspect of that conference entailed a visit to an organization called The Listening Post, a place dedicated to listening to people in the local community. It moved them both so much that although they had only just met, they felt called to work together to create a similar organization in their home state of Alaska. It took time, patience, persistence, dedication, luck and a whole lot of listening (to each other, to the universe, to the community, to the municipality) before everything was in place. In September of 2008 The Listening Post of Anchorage opened its doors. Our doors, ears, and hearts have been open ever since.

We couldn’t do what we do without our wonderful volunteers.

Nor could we do what we do without our generous donors and supporters (notice that thermometer on the right? Thank you all for giving unstintingly!).

Still, without Mary and Marcia, none of this would be happening. So, at this point of our history as an organization, five years and counting, it is time to show our appreciation to the two women who planted this seed of listening, nurturing it still to this day, for the benefit of all in our community.

Our current group of volunteers is over 40 members strong and we continue to train new volunteers all the time. We have decided to honor our founders by expanding our hours during the week of Feb 10th (yes, that includes Valentine’s day, and what better way to show love than to listen to another). The Listening Post will be open from 8am-8pm from Monday Feb 10 through Saturday Feb 15. Volunteers will have the opportunity to serve shifts of three hours, which will allow four listening shifts each day of our event.

And we’re inviting our supporters to help honor Mary and Marcia by participating in our Listen-athon. Our volunteers are seeking pledges to match the hours of service during our Listen-athon. They each have “sign up sheets,” where supporters can make a pledge of any dollar amount/hr of listening served during our Founder’s Day (Founder’s Week, really) Listen-athon. Don’t know any of the volunteers personally? Not a problem, we can match you with one! Just contact us using the form below and we will make arrangements and keep you informed. And, of course, if you would like to honor our Founders during this event by simply making a direct donation, please do so through our “To Donate” page – you can click here.

All our thanks,
the all volunteer staff of The Listening Post

Please fill out this form if you’d like to sponsor a volunteer listener for our Founder’s Day Listen-athon. Thank you.